2004
OverviewThe Democratic ticket has
not carried North Carolina since Jimmy Carter did in 1976, but Sen. Kerry's
selection of Sen. Edwards as his running mate put the Tar Heel State into
play. However the result was nearly the same as in 2000, as Bush
amassed a plurality of 435,317 votes (12.44 percentage points).General
Election DetailsKerry/Allies
| Bush-Cheney
'04

(Primary: July 20, 2004.
In Feb. 2004, the Board of Elections moved the primary back from May 4,
2004 because legislative district boundaries had yet to be approved).

Past Results

1996

Dole (Rep.)...........1,225,938

(48.73)

Clinton (Dem.).......1,107,849

(44.04)

Perot (Ref.)..............168,059

(6.68)

Others (2+w/ins)........13,961

(0.55)

Total........2,515,807

1992

Bush (Rep.)..........1,134,661

(43.34)

Clinton (Dem.).......1,114,042

(42.65)

Perot (Unaff.)...........357,864

(13.70)

Others (Marrou+w/ins).5,283

(0.21)

Total........2,611,850

2000

Gore/Lieberman
(Dem.)

1,257,692

(43.20)

+Bush/Cheney
(Rep.)

1,631,163

(56.03)

Browne/Olivier (Lib.)

12,307

(0.42)

Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)

8,874

(0.30)

McReynolds/Hollis

1,226

(0.04)

Total........2,911,262

In 1999, the NC General Assembly
passed legislation to allow in-person, no-excuse absentee voting.
A voter could vote at any designated Absentee One-Stop voting site in his
or her county from Oct. 16 to Nov. 3, 2000. 393,152 people did so.
In addition there were 72,447 civilian absentee by mail votes and 3,766
military absentee returns.

2000
OverviewNorth Carolina, which went
Republican by a very narrow margin in 1992, and a close but wider margin
in 1996, went solidly into the GOP column in 2000, as Bush-Cheney secured
a plurality of 373,471 votes (12.83 percentage points). Bush carried
75 counties to 25 for Gore. Bush won every county in the western
part of the state and all the counties along the coast; Gore carried a
cluster of 8 counties in the SE and another cluster of 17 counties in the
NE. North Carolina did not see much activity at the presidential
level, with the exception of the second presidential debate, held on Oct.
11 at Wake Forest University.General
Election Activity

Notes: North Carolina's
onerous ballot access requirements -- 51,324 signatures by May 17, 2000
-- resulted in a limited range of choices for the state's voters.
After the Nader campaign fell short, it went
to court seeking an injunction to put him on the ballot. U.S.
District Judge W. Earl Britt turned down their request (Aug. 9 ruling),
and an appeal to the 4th Circuit likewise proved unsuccessful (Sept. 15).